In
his Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961 , President John F. Kennedy hinted at what a
compassionate citizen must look like.
There he said:

"Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to
bear arms...but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in
and year out, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation....--a struggle
against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself....

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your
country can do for you- -ask what you can do for your country."

President Kennedy was calling for a different kind of action. He was calling for what I have begun to call
"True Service."

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True
Service is dedicated work done in the world which includes a consideration of
its effect on others. It is not
charity. It rests on a redefinition of work itself. In practical terms, this means that any task can be done in
one-way or the other. Any job, any work, can be done by using the power of that
effort solely for one's own benefit or by looking out for the benefit that
job's real purpose has for others: whether it is President of the United
States, a football coach or a garbage collector. True service is achieved when any job unites power and purpose
in benefit to the public.

The Compassionate
Society

When
a massive tragedy, like Sandy Hook occurs our compassion as a society has a
tendency to come rushing to the fore. There is nothing
wrong with this. However, compassion is
more than just a feeling. Compassion is
a value that can form the basis for every day action -- not just charitable
action or emergency response.
Compassion can and must become a new preferred basis for action. Compassion, instead of rushing forth in
response to tragedy, must become that steady flow which forms the devotional
basis of True Service.

Eric Z. Lucas is an alumnus of Stanford University (Creative Writing Major: 1972-1975), the University of Washington (1981: BA English Literature and Elementary Education) and Harvard Law School, J.D. 1986. Since law school he has been a public (more...)